Meet Our Finalists

The Southern Pen Bookshop opened submissions for the first Georgia Independent Author of the Year award last fall. This decision was made in response to the exclusion of authors who chose non-traditional avenues to publish their works from the Georgia Writers' Association - Georgia Author of the Year award. As we often say at the bookshop, there are two things a book should never be judged by: one is its cover and the second is how it was published. The shelves in our bookshop are filled with authors that are best-sellers, received previous awards, and are well-established in their genres. But, that is enough preaching for today. Let's get to the fun.

In response to our open submissions, we received thirteen entrants. Those thirteen entrants and their categories have been narrowed to a first place, finalist, and in some categories a honorable mention. The Southern Pen Bookshop will host an award banquet at the conclusion of the writers conference on Saturday - May 18 to recognize these authors and their works. Here are our finalists:

Please note order of appearance does not indicate placement for the awards.

Historical Fiction:

Janet Hogan Chapman Dorothy May: Can She Find a Forever Family

Jay Beck Jr. Casting Stones

Lev Butts Guns of the Waste Land:Dispersal

Romance:

Georgiana Fields Crimson Dreams

Judah Knight Love Waits

Inspirational/Memoir

Lee Gaitan Lite Whines and Laughter-

Mild Rants and Musings on the Mundane

Susie TenEyck Abandon

Children's Book/Specialty Book

Janie Spataro Pap Pap Goes to Paris, and so does Ricky

Robert Jones Happiness - A lesson with Lulu

Susan Lindsley Wildlife in Persimmon Park

Congratulations to each of these talented individuals. Always remember the best way to thank an author is to leave them a review on sites where their books are available for sale and on Goodreads. It doesn't have to be fancy.